Slicing machine

ABSTRACT

A machine for slicing strips of articles having variable vertical thicknesses to provide individual portions of substantially similar size comprising support means, means mounted on the support means for feeding the strips along a predetermined line of travel, means engageable with the strips disposed on the strip feeding means, for indexing the strip along the line of travel in predetermined increments, means responsive to the vertical thicknesses of the strips, operably connected to the strip indexing means to vary the magnitude of the indexing increments in relation to the vertical dimensions of the strips, and means cooperative with the strip indexing means for severing the leading end of the strips upon the strips being indexed a predetermined increment.

llnate States Patent 11 1 1111 3,724,306

Meckley [451 Apr. 3, 1973 [54] SLICING MACHINE [75] Inventor: George E. Meckley, Abbottstown, Primary i" Abercromble p Attorney-Mason, Fenw1ck & Lawrence [73] Assignee: Hanover Brands, Inc., Hanover, Pa. [57] ABSTRACT [22] Filed: 5 1971 A machine for slicing strips of articles having variable [21] A l, No; 121,388 vertical thicknesses to provide individual portions of substantially similar size comprising support means, means mounted on the support means for feeding the (g1 strips along a predetermined line of travel means em [58] Field 0 Search "146/94 R 95, 101, 103, 158; gageable with the strips disposed on the strip feeding 53/127 means, for indexing the strip along the line of travel in predetermined increments, means responsive to the [56] References Cited vertical thicknesses of the strips, operably connected to the strip indexing means to vary the magnitude of UNITED STATES PATENTS the indexing increments in relation to the vertical 3,363,656 1/1968 Snyder ..l46/94 R x dimensions 0f the Strips and means 9 with 2,911,776 11 1959 Sada ..l46/158 UX the Strip indexing means fQf severing leading end 2,541,907 2/1951 Appling ..146/94 R X of the strips upon the strips being indexed a predeter- 2,967,386 1/1961 Hill ..53/1 23 mined increment. 3,334,673 8/1967 Church, Jr.. 146/158 3,144,893 8/1964 Dahms ..146/95 14 Claims, 20 Drawing Figures I I l I 1, I I l |11111| WI PATENTEDAFRB I975 3,724,306 SHEET OlUF 12 INVENTOR Ci eotaq E- E. MECKLEY BY MQ'SMJQ M ATTORNEYS PATENTEDAPREI I975 3.724.306 SHEET UEUF 12 g H INVENTOR Gaozae EMEEKLE'Y ATTORNEYS PATENTEUAPR 3 I975 SHEET DBUF 12 ig a INVENTQR E, ATTORNEYS Wigwam;

PATENTEDAPR 3 I973 SHEET an [1F 12 Geoaaa E-MECKLEY amg ATTORNEY-9 BY WWW Pmgmgmm 1975 3,724,306

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BY movsm c ATTORNEYS SHEET 12 OF PATENTEDAPR 3 I975 IN VE NTOR GEORGE E. MECKLEY BY wqmgm um. 4

ATTORNEYS SLICING MACHINE The present invention relates to a slicing machine and more particularly to an apparatus for slicing a strip having a variable vertical thickness, such as a strip of pork, to provide individual severed portions of the strip of substantially similar size.

In the preparation of the food product commonly known as pork and beans, it has been the conventional practice in the food processing industry to deposit a piece of pork in each can filled with precooked beans. Customarily, the procedure for preparing and depositing pieces of pork in the can filled with beans has consisted of manually cutting slabs of pork into strips, cutting the strips into small pieces either manually or with a conventional slicing machine, transferring the pieces of meat to a feeding table, and then manually depositing the chunks of pork in the cans filled with the precooked beans.

The aforementioned procedure has been found to be unsatisfactory in that it requires a considerable amount of labor, results in spillage which produces waste, and does not provide optimum sanitary conditions. It thus has been found desirable to provide an automated method of slicing and depositing pieces of pork in a can filled with precooked beans, on a mass production basis.

Accordingly, it is the principal of the present invention to provide a novel slicing machine.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel machine for slicing strips of articles.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a novel machine for slicing strips of articles and then depositing the severed portions thereof in containers.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a novel machine for slicing strips of an article having variations in thickness, into portions having substantially similar size.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel machine for slicing strips of articles having variable thicknesses into severed portions having substantially similar sizes, and depositing such severed portions in containers.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a machine for slicing strips of pork meat having variable vertical thicknesses, into chunks having substantially similar sizes.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a novel machine for slicing strips of pork meat having variable vertical thicknesses into chunks having substantially similar sizes, and depositing such chunks into cans of precooked beans.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel machine for slicing strips of an article into portions having substantially similar sizes, which requires a minimum number of operators, prevents waste through spillage, and provides maximum sanitary operating conditions.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a novel machine for slicing strips of an article into individual portions which is comparatively simple in construction, relatively economical to operate and easy to maintain and service.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent to those persons having ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains, from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of an embodiment of the invention, having a portion thereof broken away;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, having a portion thereof broken away;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 in FIG. 2, having a portion thereof broken away;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 5-5 in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 6-6 in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a view similar to the view shown in FIG. 6, illustrating certain components of the embodiment in sequential positions;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 8-8 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 9-9 in FIG. 5;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 10-10 in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 11-11 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 12 is a view similar to the view shown in FIG. 11, illustrating various components thereof in sequential positions;

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view taken 13-13 in FIG. 8;

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 14-14 in FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 15-15 in FIG. 13;

FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 16-16 in FIG. 13;

FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view taken 17-17 in FIG. 13;

FIG. 18 is a view similar to the view shown in FIG. 1 1, illustrating a modification of the slicing mechanism;

FIG. 19 is a view similar to the view shown in FIG. 18, illustrating the components thereof in sequential positions; and

FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 20-20 in FIG. 19.

Briefly described, the present invention relates to a machine for slicing strips having variable vertical thicknesses, such as strips of pork meat, into severed along line along line portions of substantially similar size, which generally includes a support means, means mounted on the support means for feeding the strips along a predetermined line of travel, means engageable with the strips disposed on the strip feeding means for indexing the strips in predetermined increments, means responsive to the vertical thicknesses of the strips, operatively connected to the strip indexing means to vary the magnitude of indexing increments in relation to the vertical dimensions of the strips b'eing advanced along the line of travel, and means cooperative with the strip indexing means for severing the leading end of the strips upon the strips being indexed a predetermined increment. The invention further contemplates the coordinated guidance of a plurality of containers whereby containers successively will be positioned to receive a severed portion of the strip.

Referring to FIGS. 1 through 17 of the drawings, there is illustrated an embodiment of the invention. Generally, the embodiment includes a frame assembly 100, a main gear box assembly 150 mounted on the frame assembly, a drive assembly 180 supported on the frame and main gear box assemblies, a continuous strip feed assembly 200 mounted on the frame assembly, a strip indexing assembly 250 cooperating with the continuous feed assembly, and an index compensator assembly 300 which is cooperable with the indexing assembly. The embodiment further includes a slicing mechanism 400 mounted on the frame assembly, a container feed assembly 500 cooperating with the slicing mechanism, and a container feed compensator assembly 600 which is operatively connected to the container feed assembly.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 3, the frame assembly consists of a lower stationary frame unit 101 and an upper movable frame unit 102 which is vertically adjustable relative to the stationary frame unit 101 and on which the various operating assemblies of the embodiment are mounted. The lower unit consists of three vertical leg members 103, 104 and 105 positioned at the apices of a triangle, which are interconnected by frame members 106, 107 and 108. The leg members 103 through 105 and the frame members 106 through 108, in addition to a bracing member 109 are integrally interconnected to provide a sturdy lower frame unit.

The upper frame unit 102 consists of three tubular leg members 110, 111 and 112 which are mounted on the upper ends of leg members 103 through 105, respectively, in telescopic relation. The leg members 1 through 112 are interconnected by frame members 1 13, 114 and 115 which lie in the same vertical planes as the frame members 106, 107 and 108 of the lower frame unit 101. The leg members 110 through 112 and the frame members 113 through 115, in addition to a bracing member 116 interconnecting the leg member 1 12 and frame member 115, are rigidly interconnected to provide the integral upper frame unit 102.

The upper frame unit 102 may be adjusted vertically relative to the lower frame unit 101 by means of a screw assembly 117. The assembly 117 is provided with a lower seating member 118 rigidly secured to the frame member 109, a threaded member 119 rigidly mounted on the frame member 116 in vertical alignment with the seating member 118, and a threaded shaft 120 having the lower end thereof seated in the member 118 and the upper end thereof threaded into the threaded member 1 19. The threaded shaft 120 may be rotated by means of a handle 121 to adjust the upper frame unit 102 relative to the lower frame unit 101. The position of the upper frame unit 102 relative to the lower frame unit 101 may be fixed by means of a nut threaded on the shaft 120 and brought up against the lower end of the threaded member 119.

The leg members 111 and 112 are of the same height and are provided on the upper ends thereof with support brackets 122 and 123 on which there are rigidly mounted a pair of table members 124 and 125, respectively. The table members 124 and 125 are longitudinally disposed and transversely spaced to provide a pair of upper surfaces lying in the same horizontal plane, and a pair of parallel, opposed inner edges 126 and 127 along the entire lengths thereof. The upper end of the third leg member terminates below the upper ends of the leg members 1 11 and 112, and is provided with a rigidly mounted L-shaped bracket 128, to which the main gear box assembly is rigidly secured.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 5 through 7, the main gear box assembly 150 is supported on the frame assembly 100 and includes a bottom wall 151 having a downwardly projecting portion 152 providing a recess 153, an integrally connected front wall 154, an integral rear wall 155 having a recessed portion 156, an integral inner sidewall 157 having a recessed portion 158, an outer detachable wall member 159 and a detachable cover member 160.

The main gear box assembly is supported on the frame assembly by means of the rear end of outer sidewall 159 being rigidly secured to the bracket 128, an L-shaped bracket 161 having a horizontal portion thereof rigidly secured by bolts to the upper side of the table member 124 and a vertical portion 163 thereof rigidly secured to the recessed wall portion 156a of rear wall 155, and a bracket 164 having a horizontal portion thereof rigidly secured by bolts to the front end of table member 124 and a vertical portion thereof which is rigidly secured by bolts to the front end of inner sidewall 157. Disposed adjacent inner sidewall 157 of the main gear box assembly, is a gear box unit 167 having a transversely disposed, front wall 168 formed integral with the inner sidewall 157, a transversely disposed rear wall 169, a sidewall 170 spaced from the sidewall 157, a sidewall 171, a bottom wall 172 and a removable cover 173. Interconnecting the wall members 170 and 157 is a cylindrical housing portion 173 which provides a passageway communicating with openings in the walls 170 and 157 for receiving a drive shaft therethrough as will later be described.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3 through 5, the drive assembly consists of a motor 181 formed integral with a gear reduction unit 182 which is secured to an adaptor 183 mounted on the outer wall member 159 of the main gear box assembly. The gear reduction unit 182 is provided with an output shaft 184 extending into the adaptor 183, and is operatively connected by means of a coupling'185 with an axially aligned main drive shaft 186. The main drive shaft 186 extends through the gear box assembly 150 and the cylindrical housing portion 173, into the gear box unit 167, and is journaled in walls 159, 157 and 170, as best illustrated in FIG. 4. The drive assembly further includes an idler shaft 187 disposed parallel and below the main drive shaft 186, which is journaled in sidewalls 157 and 159, and a drive shaft 188 which is journaled in sidewalls 157 and 159, and a depending bearing bracket 189 rigidly secured to the underside of the table member 125, as best illustrated in FIG. 5. Drive is transmitted from the main drive shaft 186 to the idler shaft 187 by means of a drive gear 193 mounted on the main drive shaft 186, which meshes with a driven gear 190 mounted on the idler shaft 187. Drive is then transmitted from the idler shaft 187 to the drive shaft 188 by means of a drive sprocket 191 mounted on the idler around the sprockets 191 and 192, as best illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7.

Continuous Strip Feed Assembly Referring to FIGS. 1, 2, 5, 9 and 10 the continuous feed assembly 200 consists of a driven sprocket 201 mounted on the end of the drive shaft 188 adjacent the depending bearing bracket 189, and idler sprocket 202 mounted on an idler shaft 203 and an endless chain conveyor 204 trained about the sprockets 201 and 202. The idler shaft 203 is joumaled in a depending bracket 205 secured to the rear underside of the table members 124 and 125. As best illustrated in FIG. 10, the links of the chain conveyor 204 are provided with a plurality of attachments 206 having substantially rectangular outer plate portions 207. Along the upper flight of the conveyor 207, the side edges of the plate portions 207 are guided along rabetted sections 126a and 127a of table members 126 and 127, respectively, to support and advance strips of pork meat M between a pair of guide members 126b and 127b, toward the indexing assembly 250.

Indexing Assembly The indexing assembly 250 is best illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2, 4 and 6 through 10. It consists of a conveyor support mechanism 251, a conveyor mechanism 252 mounted on the support mechanism and a motion translating mechanism 253 operatively interconnecting the drive assembly 180 and the conveyor mechanism 252, to translate continuous rotary motion of the main drive shaft 186 to an intermittent rotary motion of the drive shaft for the conveying mechanism.

The support mechanism 252 includes a stationary support bracket 254, a support arm 255 and a floating bracket 256. The bracket 254 has a horizontal base portion 257 rigidly secured to the table member 124 rearwardly of the main gear box assembly 150, and a vertical portion 258 provided with a transversely disposed pivot pin 259. The bracket support arm 255 includes a boss 260 pivotally mounted on the pivot pin 259, a forwardly projecting portion 261 which curves downwardly at its forward end, and a boss 262 disposed at the forward end of the portion 262, having a transverse pin receiving opening therein.

The floating bracket 256 consists of a longitudinally and vertically disposed plate member 263 having an inwardly and laterally projecting pivot pin 64 received within the transverse opening of the boss 262. The plate member 263 further is provided with a pair of outwardly projecting pins 265 and 266, a pair of depending support elements 267 rigidly secured at their upper ends thereof to the support pin 265, and a pair of rigid guide rods 268 rigidly secured at the rear ends thereof to the support pin 256 and at the forward ends thereof to the lower ends of the depending elements 267. As best shown in FIG. 9, the forward portion of the guide rods 268 are disposed substantially level and parallel to the forward portion of the bottom of plate member 263, and the rearward portion thereof is inclined rearwardly and upwardly. The guide rods 268 are adapted to engage a strip of meat M supported on the endless chain conveyor 204. The rearwardly and upwardly inclined portion of the guide rods readily permits a strip of meat M to advance forwardly under the floating bracket without interference. As best shown in FIG. 10, a guide bar 269 is disposed above and parallel to the guide wires 268, and is rigidly secured to the plate member 263 by means of a rigid interconnecting member 270.

The conveyor mechanism 252 consists of a drive sprocket 271 having a shaft 272 joumaled in the rear end of the plate member 263, a pair of idler sprockets 273 and 274 disposed forwardly and rearwardly of the guide bar 269, having shafts 275 and 276 mounted in the plate member 263, and an endless chain 277 trained about the sprockets 272, 273 and 274, and guided along the lower edge of the guide bar 269. As best illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10, the endless chain 277 is provided with a plurality of cleat attachments 278 which engage a strip of meat M fed forwardly by the continuously operating conveyor 204, along the lower flight of the endless chain 277. Each of the cleat attachments consists of a U-shaped member 279 and a pair of L-shaped members 280 which are rigidly secured to the member 279 and are pivotally connected to the links of the endless chain 204. Each of the U-shaped members 279 has a pair of transversely disposed, outwardly projecting portions 281 which are provided with sharpened edges 282 and longitudinally aligned recesses 283 for receiving the rigid guide rods 268 therethrough when the attachment is moving along the lower flight of the endless chain 204.

Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, the motion translating mechanism 253 includes a circular cam 284, a cam follower 285, an indexing lever 286 and a toothless ratchet 287 provided with a brake 288. As further seen in FIG. 4, the ratchet 287 is provided with an output shaft 289 which is operatively connected to the shaft 272 of drive sprocket 271, by means of a universal coupling 290.

The circular cam 284 is eccentrically mounted on the main drive shaft 186, and the cam follower 285 is mounted on the circular edge of the cam 284. The lever 286 is pivotally connected at one end thereof to the cam 285 by means of a pivot pin 291 and at the other end thereof to a pawl element 292 of the ratchet 287. As the cam 284 rotates on the main drive shaft 186, the rotary motion thereof about the axis of the shaft 186 will be translated to a reciprocating motion of the cam follower 285, which will be transmitted by the lever 286 to the pawl element 292. The reciprocating motion of the pawl 292 will operate the ratchet 287 to drive the output shaft 287 with an intermittent rotary motion. The universal coupling 290 then transmits the intermittent rotary motion of the output shaft289 to the shaft 272, to drive the chain 204 intermittently. The intermittent drive of the chain 204 operates to index the strip of meat M toward the slicing mechanism 300 in increments regulated by the index compensator assembly 300.

Index Compensator Assembly FIGS. 4 through 9 best illustrate the index compensator assembly 300 which includes a first bell crank 301, a link 302 interconnecting the bell crank 301 and the floating bracket 252, a second bell crank 303, an adjustment screw 304 interconnecting the bell cranks 301 and 303, and a link 305 interconnecting the bell crank 303 with the cam follower 285. The bell crank 301 is provided with a shaft portion 306 joumaled in a bearing bracket 307 rigidly secured to the table member 124, a downwardly projecting radially disposed arm portion 308 having an upwardly curved end 309, and a downwardly projecting, radially disposed arm portion 310 which is axially and radially displaced relative to the arm portion 308, relative to the axis of the shaft portion 306. The link member 302 is pivotally connected at one end thereof to the free end of the arm portion 308 by means of a pivot pin 311, and is pivotally connected at its upper end to the floating bracket 252 by means of a pivot pin 312. By virtue of such connection, any vertical motion of the floating bracket 252 will be transmitted through the link 302 to the arm portion 308, to pivot the bell crank 301 about the axis of the shaft portion 306. 2

Referring to FIG. 5, the bell crank 303 includes a shaft portion 313 disposed coaxially with the shaft portion 306 of bell crank 301, and joumaled in the inner sidewall 157 of the main gear box assembly, a radially disposed arm portion 314 disposed adjacent to and being angularly disposed relative to the arm portion 310 of bell crank 301, and a radially disposed arm portion 315 disposed within the main gear box assembly adjacent the cam follower 285. As best shown in FIG. 8, the adjusting screw 304 is rotatably mounted at its upper end in a collar 316 formed integral with the end of arm portion 314 of bell crank 304, and is threaded into a threaded opening provided in an element 317 formed integral with the end of arm portion 310 of hell crank 301. It will be seen that by turning the knob 318 on the upper end of the adjustment screw 304, the arm portions 310 and 314 can be angularly displaced to correspondingly angularly displace the bell cranks 301 and 303 about their common axis. The compensator assembly further includes a compensator link 319 which is pivotally connected at one end to the free end of arm portion 315 by means of a pivot pin 320 and is pivotally connected at the opposite end thereof to pivot pin 291.

When the floating bracket 252 is caused to move upwardly, as when a strip of meat M having a comparatively large thickness is fed toward the slicing mechanism 400, the link 302 will be moved upwardly thereby causing the bell crank 301 to pivot in a clockwise direction relative to FIG. 9. Such motion is transmitted through the adjustment screw 304 to cause the bell crank 303 to correspondingly pivot in a clockwise direction. As this occurs, the arm portion 315 will pivot in a clockwise direction causing the axis of pivot pin 320 to move downwardly along an arcuate line of travel A about the pivot axis of the bell crank 303, as shown in FIG. 6. Such movement of the pivot pin 320 displaces the pivot axis of compensator link 319 downwardly thereby reorienting the arcuate line of travel of the axis of pivot pin 291 to which the cam follower 285, the compensating link 319 and the indexing link 286 are pivotally connected. The effect of increasing the angle a defined by a line passing through the axis of pivot pin 291 and tangent to the arcuate line of travel B, and a line disposed tangent to the arcuate line of travel C at the dead center point of the axis of pivot pin 292a, is to decrease the range of movement of the axis of pivot pin 292a along its arcuate line of travel C.

Such more limited movement will be transmitted through the ratchet 287, the universal coupling 290 and the drive sprocket 271, to drive the chain 277 intermittently at relatively smaller increments. Thus, the strips of meat M, having a comparatively large vertical thickness will be fed intermittently by the chain 277 in increments of comparatively smaller magnitude.

When the floating bracket 252 is caused to move downwardly, as when a strip of meat M having a comparatively small vertical thickness is fed through the machine, the link 302 will move downwardly, causing the bell crank- 301 to pivot in a counterclockwise direction relative to FIG. 9. Such pivotal movement will be transmitted through the adjustment screw 304, to correspondingly pivot the bell crank 303 about its axis so that the axis of pivot pin 320 will be caused to move upwardly along the arcuate line of travel A. The movement of the axis of pivot pin 320 to the position as illustrated in FIG. 7 will function to decrease the angle 0:, again defined as a line passing through the axis of pivot pin 291 and tangent to the arcuate line of travel B, and a line disposed tangent to the arcuate line of travel C at the dead center point of the axis of pivot pin 292a. The decrease of the angle a would have the effect of increasing the range of movement of the axis of pin 292a along the line of travel C, thereby increasing the magnitude of the increments of intermittent rotary motion transmitted by the ratchet 287 through the universal coupling 290 and the drive sprocket 271, to the indexing chain 277. The effect of the increase in the magnitude of increments in the indexing of chain 277 would be to feed the strip of meat M having a comparatively small vertical thickness, in larger increments toward the slicing mechanism 400.

Adjustments in the operation of the compensator assembly can be made by adjusting the angular displacement of the bell crank 301 relative to the bell crank 302. This can be accomplished simply by turning the knob 318 of the adjustment screw 304.

Slicing Mechanism The slicing mechanism 400 is best shown in FIGS. 4, 8, 11 and 12. The mechanism includes a shaft 401 disposed parallel to line of movement of the feeding chain 204, and a cutting blade 402 mounted on the front end of the shaft 401, substantially perpendicular to the axis thereof. The forward end of the shaft 401 is joumaled in a bushing 403 mounted in the bracket 164, and the rear end thereof extends into the gear box 167 and is joumaled in the front wall 168 thereof. Continuous drive is transmitted from the main drive shaft 186 to.the cutting blade 401 by means of a pair of meshing miter gears 404 and 405 mounted on the ends of the shafts within the gear box 167.

As best illustratedin FIGS. 11 and 12, the cutting blade 402 is provided with an eccentric cutting edge 406 which is adapted to engage and incisively cut an end portion of a strip of meat M advanced to the slicing station by the indexing chain 277. The blade further is provided with a cutout portion 407 which permits the indexing of the leading end of the strip of meat M between successive slicing operations. The action of the cutting blade 402 and the operation of the indexing assembly are coordinated to provide a slicing action between indexing operations of the index chain 277.

The leading end portion of the strip of meat M is received within a vertical guide chute defined by a vertically disposed channel member 48, which limits the forward travel of the leading end of the strip and guides the severed end portion of the strip downwardly into a container positioned at a feed station FS, directly below the guide chute. The channel member 408 is mounted on a bracket 409 rigidly secured to the underside of the leading end of table member 125, and is spaced sufficiently from the front edges of the table members 124 and 125 to permit the passage of the cutting blade 402 therebetween, as best illustrated in FIG. 4.

The positive ejection of the severed portion of the strip is insured by a lever 410 having a substantially rectilinear portion 41 1 secured to a lever shaft 412, and a downwardly curved free end portion 413 which is adapted to extend downwardly into the guide chute provided by the channel member 408, to engage and dislodge the severed piece of meat from the chute. The end of the curved portion 401 is provided with a flat plate 414 which engages the severed piece of meat, and a guide element 415 which is received within a vertical guide slot 416 in the outer flange portion 408a of the channel member. The guide member 415 is movable vertically in the guide slot 416 to positively guide the curved end portion 413 of the lever member within the guide chute.

The lever shaft 412 is journaled at its forward end in the front wall 154 of the main gear box assembly, and at the rear end thereof in a bearing block 413 mounted on the sidewall 157. The lever shaft 412 is rocked and the lever member 410 correspondingly is reciprocated, to move the curved end portion 413 thereof downwardly into the vertical chute of the channel member 408, by means of a radially displace cam follower 414 which is received within a cam track 415 of a cam 416 rigidly mounted on the main drive shaft 186. It will be seen that upon rotation of the main drive shaft 186, the cam follower 414 will be caused to reciprocate thus rocking the lever shaft 412 about its axis. The rocking motion of the lever shaft 412 is transmitted to the lever member 410 which causes the downwardly curved end portion 413 thereof to move vertically within the chute to dislodge the severed pieces of meat disposed therein. Since the drive shaft 272 for the indexing chain 277, the shaft 401 for the cutting blade 402 and the shaft 412 for the ejector lever 410 are all driven by the main drive shaft 186, their operations may be coordinated by simple adjustment to provide an appropriate sequence of operations, i.e., the indexing of the leading end of a strip of meat M into the guide chute of the channel member 408 by the indexing chain 277, the severing of the leading end of the strip of meat by the cutting blade 402, and then the ejection of the severed piece of meat by the lever 410.

FIGS. 18 through 20 illustrate a modified slicing mechanism 450 which provides an alternate form of cutting action. The modified mechanism provides a shaft 401a which is journaled in and extends beyond the bracket 164. Keyed on the shaft 401a is a rotary gear housing 451 having a cover member 452 and a radially offset cylindrical housing portion 453. Mounted on the shaft 401a within the housing 451, is a gear 454 having a hub portion 455 extending through an opening in the cover member 452 and an aligned opening 456 in a bracket member 457. The bracket 457 is rigidly secured to the front wall 154a of the main gear box assembly and is provided with a clevis end portion for clamping the hub portion 455 of gear 454 to the bracket 457, thus preventing any rotary movement of the gear 154. As shown in FIG. 20, a seal 58 is provided in the opening of the cover member 452 between the cover member and the hub portion 455 of gear 454.

A bearing insert 459 is provided in the cylindrical housing portion 453, in which there is journaled a cutting blade shaft having its axis disposed substantially parallel to the axis of shaft 401a. Mounted on the shaft within the housing 451, is a gear 461 which meshes with the stationary gear 454. On the opposite, exterior end of the shAft 460 there is mounted a circular cutting blade 462 which lies in a plane disposed substantially perpendicular to the line of travel of a strip of meat M indexed toward the cutting blade by the indexing chain 277a. When the shaft 401a is driven, the gear housing 451 will be caused to rotate with the shaft while the gear 454 remains stationary. As this occurs, the meshing of the orbiting gear 461 with the stationary gear 454 will cause the cutting blade shaft 460 to rotate about its axis and orbit about the axis of shaft 401a. Such action will cause the rotary blade 462 correspondingly to rotate about its axis and orbit about the axis of the shaft 401a. This, periodically, will pass the rotating cutting blade 602 across the line of travel of the strip of meat M, to sever the leading portion thereof indexed beyond the front edges of the table members 124a and 125a. An ejector arm 463 rigidly secured to the cylindrical housing portion 453, rearwardly disposed relative to the leading cutting edge of the cutting blade 462, cooperates with a guide member 464 secured to the front edge of the table member 125a by means of a bracket 465, to eject the severed piece of meat downwardly into a container positioned at the feed station FS directly below.

Container Guide Assembly The container feed assembly 500 is best illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 13 through 16. The entire assembly is secured to the underside of the main gear box assembly by means of an adaptor plate 501 rigidly bolted to the underside of the bottom wall 152 of the main gear box assembly. A mounting plate 502 is adjustably secured to the adaptor plate 501 by means of a pair of bolts 503 extending through longitudinally disposed slots 504 in the mounting plate 502, into threaded openings in the adaptor plate. The position of the mounting plate and correspondingly the entire feed assembly 500 may be adjusted longitudinally relative to the adaptor plate 501 by loosening the bolts 503 and sliding the assembly 500 forwardly or rearwardly. As

best shown in FIGS. 13 and 15, the adaptor plate 501 and the mounting plate are provided with longitudinally aligned guide recesses in which there is disposed a guide key 505.

Depending from the mounting plate 502 are brackets 506, 507 and 508 to which there is secured a transversely disposed shaft housing 509. Mounted on one end of the shaft housing 509, below the table members 124 and 125, is a reduction gear housing 510 and a star wheel shaft housing 511. As best shown in FIG. 13, the

housing 510 has a wall 512 having an opening 513 therein. Journaled in a bushing mounted in the opening 513, is a hub portion 514 of a worm gear 515. A plurality of intermediate gears 516 are rotatably mounted on a plurality of pins 517 which are circumferentially spaced and secured to the worm gear 515. Disposed in the housing 509 and extending through an axial opening in the worm gear 515 is a drive transmitting shaft 518. The shaft is joumaled at its input end in a bushing 519 and is provided with a sprocket 520. At its output end, the shaft is journaled in a bushing 521 and is provided with a drive gear 522 which meshes with first gear sections of the intermediate gears 516.

Disposed in the star wheel shaft housing 511, coaxially with the drive shaft 518 is a drive shaft 523. Such shaft is journaled in a bushing mounted in a bracket 524 formed integral with a rear wall 525 of housing 511, and is driven by a gear 526 mounted on the inner end of the shaft 523 and meshing with second gear sections of the intermediate gears 516.

Referring to FIG. 14, a vertically disposed star wheel shaft 527 is journaled in bearings 528 and 529 mounted in the upper and lower walls of the housing 511. A gear 529 is rigidly mounted on the star wheel shaft within the housing 511 which meshes with a helical gear 530 mounted on the shaft 523. The upper end of the shaft 57 is provided with a collar 531 on which there is mounted a star wheel 532.

The star wheel 532 is intended to guide a continuous line of containers successively into position at the feed station FS below the guide chute of the slicing mechanism to receive a severed chunk of meat. Usually such containers are gravity fed to the machine and need only be fed into and out of the feed station FS. Accordingly, as best illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 15, the star wheel 532 is positioned so that as the wheel is rotated, the containers K are received within the arcuate recesses 533 about the periphery thereof and guided into and out of position below the slicing mechanism to receive a chunk of meat as it is severed from the strip of meat M. Referring to FIGS. 1, 3, 13 and 17, the shaft 518 is driven by the motor 181 through the gear reduction unit 182, an output shaft 534, a drive sprocket mounted on the output shaft 534, and a drive shaft 536 trained around the drive sprocket 535 and the driven sprocket 520. When the shaft 518 is driven, drive will be transmitted to gear 522, intermediate gears 516 and driven gear 526 to drive the shaft 523 at a speed lower than the speed of the shaft 518. Additionally, drive will be transmitted by the shaft 523 through the gears 523 and 529 to rotate the shaft 527 and thus drive the star wheel 532.

In the event the star wheel 532 requires adjustment in a longitudinal direction, such adjustment can easily be made by loosening the bolts 503 on the mounting plate 502 and moving the entire guide assembly forwardly or rearwardly, as required. Furthermore, angular adjustments of the star wheel 532 can be made by rotating the worm gear 515. This is accomplished simply by turning a crank handle 537 provided on the housing 510 which rotates a worm 538 to cor respondingly rotate the worm gear 515. The angular adjustment of the worm gear 515 is transmitted through the gear train to the star wheel shaft 527 to make the appropriate angular adjustment of the star wheel 532.

Container Guide Compensator Assembly Because of the fact that the containers K normally are gravity fed to the slicing apparatus, on occasion there will occur obstructions to the free movement of the containers past the meat feed station FS which would tend to interfere with the normal operation of the slicing machine, except for the container guide compensator assembly 600. The assembly 600 functions to sense a slow down in the movement of containers past the feed station FS of the slicing machine and either to slow down or stop the operation of the machine in response to such slow down or stoppage. In essence, a slow down or stoppage in the movement of the containers is sensed by a feed back of the load applied to the container guide assembly due to the slow down or stoppage of the containers.

The compensator assembly 600 is best illustrated in FIGS. 13, 15 and 17. The assembly includes a switch box housing 601 mounted on the axle housing 509, which is provided with a cover 602, and a torque sensing arm 603 having a pivot pin 604 journaled in the sidewalls 605 and 606 of the switch box housing. The free end of the sensing arm 603 is provided with a pivot pin 607 on which there'is mounted an idler sprocket 608 engaging the drive chain 536 as best illustrated in FIG. 17.

Mounted on the pivot shaft 604 within the housing 601, is a spring arm 609 and a trip arm 610. The idler sprocket 608 is biased into engagement with the drive chain 536 by means of a tension spring 611 interconnecting the spring arm 609 and a lug 612 formed on the inner side of the wall 613 of housing 601. The trip arm 610 is engageable with a pair of micro switches 614 and 615 which are operatively connected to the control circuit for the motor 181. Whenever a load is placed on the drive chain 536, the sensing arm 603 will be caused to move inwardly to further cause the trip arm 610 to actuate the micro switches 614 and 615. The trip arm 610 functions first to actuate micro switch 614 and then as an additional load is applied to the drive chain 536, to actuate the micro switch 615. When the micro switch 614 is actuated, the control circuit for the motor 181 functions to operate the motor at a predetermined slower speed. When the micro switch 615 is actuated, however, indicating that an excess load is being applied on the drive chain 536, the control circuit for the motor functions to stop the motor entirely, thus stopping the operation of the entire machine.

The mounting of the trip arm 610 on the lever shaft 604 and the displacement of the trip arm relative to the actuating elements of the micro switches 614 and 615 can be adjusted as desired to operate the container guide compensator assembly under any desirable operating conditions. Furthermore, the trip arm 610 is urged out of engagement with the actuating elements of the micro switches 614 and 615 by means of a spring 616.

Operation In the operation of the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 17, when the motor 181 is energized, drive is transmitted through the gear reduction unit 182 to drive output shafts 184 and S34. Drive from the shaft 534 is then transmitted through the drive chain 536 to drive the shaft 518. The star wheel 532 is rotated to guide gravity fed containers K into and out of position at the feed station P8 of the machine, by means of drive transmitted from the drive gear 522, through intermediate gears 617, 516, gear 526, shaft 523 and gears 530 and 529 to the star wheel drive shaft 527. The star wheel will continue to rotate at a constant speed throughout the operation of the machine unless the speed thereof is retarded by any of the containers. Any such retardation will cause a torque load to be fed back through the gear system to the drive chain 536 which instantaneously will be sensed by the container guide compensator assembly 600 which will function either to reduce the speed or de-energize motor 181. The sensing of the load fed back through the container guide assembly is performed by the sensing arm 603 which is caused to pivot in a clockwise direction about the axis of the shaft 604 to cause the trip arm 610 to actuate first the micro switch 615 to decrease the speed of the motor 181 and upon further pivotal movement of the sensing arm 603, to actuate the micro switch 614 to de-energize the motor 181. Whenever the load on the container guide assembly is removed, the spring 611 in the compensator assembly 600 will pivot the sensing arm 603 in a counterclockwise direction relative to FIG. 17 to correspondingly lift the trip arm 610 to deactuate the micro switches 614 and 615. Consequently, the container guide assemblY 500 and the compensator assembly function to insure that the containers K are successively guided past the feed station, and either will slow down or stop the operation of the slicing machine in the event the containers passing through the feed station are either slowed down or stopped. Although only two micro switches 614 and 615 are shown in the drawings, which are operable to decrease the speed and stop the operation of the motor 181, it is contemplated that additional micro switches can be used to provide a greater range of speeds at which the machine can be operated.

Initially and periodically thereafter, whenever necessary, the position of the star wheel 532 can be adjusted either by loosening the bolts 503 on the mounting plate 502 and moving the container guide assembly 500 forwardly or rearwardly to adjust the position of the star wheel longitudinally, or by turning the crank handle 537 to adjust the angular position of the star wheel.

With the star wheel 532 rotating to guide the containers K successively past the feed station of the machine, drive is transmitted from the shaft 184 through the coupling 185 to operate the continuous feed assembly 200, the indexing assembly 250 and the slicing mechanism 400. The continuous feed assembly 200 is operated by virtue of drive being transmitted from drive gear 193 through gear 190, drive chain 193 and drive shaft 188, to driver feed chain 204. Drive chain 204 operates continuously to feed a strip of meat M placed thereon between the guide brackets 1268 and 127 B, toward the indexing assembly 250.

As the continuous feed assembly 200 is operated, the eccentric cam 284 cooperates with the cam follower 285 to translate the rotary motion of the main drive shaft 186 into a reciprocating motion which is transmitted by the indexing arm 286 to the pawl element 292 of ratchet 287. The toothless ratchet 187 then functions to translate the reciprocating motion of the pawl element 292 to intermittent rotary motion which is transmitted through the shaft 289, the universal coupling 290 and drive shaft 272, to the indexing chain 277.

The strips of meat M carried along the upper flight of feed chain 204 will be fed under the indexing assembly 250 so that the leading ends of the strips will engage first the inclined, rearwardly disposed portion of the guide rods 268 and then the forwardly disposed horizontal portions thereof. As the strips of meat are fed under the indexing chain 277, the strips will be impaled by the cleat attachments 279 and caused to be indexed forwardly with the same motion as the indexing chain 277. The strips of meat M thus will be indexed forwardly and positioned within the vertical chute of the channel-shaped member 408 to be severed by the rotating cutting blade 402.

The blade 402 is rotated continuously by means of drive being transmitted from the main drive shaft 186 through meshing miter gears 404 and 405 and drive shaft 401. To adjust the timing of the cutting action of he blade 402, the bolt 402b securing the blade to the drive shaft 401, can be loosened to adjust the blade angularly relative to the axis of the drive shaft 401. The severed pieces of meat may be dislodged from the vertical chute and deposited in the containers successively positioned therebelow, by means of the reciprocating action of the ejector arm 410. The arm is reciprocated by the engagement of the cam follower 414 with the cam 416 mounted on the main drive shaft 186. The reciprocating motion of the follower 414 is transmitted through the shaft 412 to the ejector arm 410. The timing of the reciprocating action of ejector arm 410 can be adjusted by adjusting the angular position of the arm relative to the shaft 412.

In the modified slicing mechanism 450, shown in FIGS. 18 through 20, the drive shaft 401a operates to rotate the gear housing 451 while the gear 454 remains stationary. The inneraction of the rotating gear housing 451 and the stationary gear 454 operates to cause the drive shaft 460 for the circular cutting 462 to rotate while orbiting about the axis of the shaft 401a. The orbiting of the rotating cutting blade 462 functions to sever the leading ends of the strips of meat M similar to the cutting blade 402.

As a strip of meat M is engaged by the cleat attachments 281 of indexing chain 277 and advanced forwardly, the floating bracket 252 will be displaced'vertically depending on the vertical thickness of the strip of meat. Whenever a thick strip of meat is engaged by the cleats 281 and advanced forwardly, the floating bracket 252 will be caused to move upwardly. The upwardly displacement of the floating bracket will be transmitted through the link 302 to cause the bell crank 301 to pivot in a clockwise direction relative to FIG. 9. The clockwise pivotal movement of the bell crank 301 then will be transmitted through the adjustment screw 304 to the bell crank 303 to cause the arm member 315 to pivot clockwise and the axis of the pivot pin 320 to move downwardly along its arcuate line of travel A. The angular displacement of the axis of pivot pin 320 will function to increase the angle a, as previously defined, correspondingly to decrease the magnitude of reciprocating movement of the axis of pivot pin 292a along arcuate line of travel C. The effect of the decrease in the magnitude of the range of movement of 

1. A machine for slicing strips of an article having variable thicknesses into individual portions of substantially similar size Comprising a frame assembly, means mounted on said frame assembly for feeding said strips along a predetermined line of travel, a floating bracket mounted on said frame assembly, adjacent said line of travel, an endless conveyor mounted on said floating bracket having a flight disposed along said line of travel, said endless conveyor having a drive sprocket and being disposed along the length thereof engageable with said strips for advancing said strips along said line of travel, a main drive shaft mounted on said frame assembly, means for driving said main drive shaft, a cam mounted on said main drive shaft, said cam having a circular cam surface disposed eccentrically relative to the axis of said main drive shaft, a cam follower having a circular surface mounted on said circular cam surface, a ratchet having a pawl mounted on said frame assembly, said ratchet having an axis disposed substantially parallel to the axis of said main drive shaft, means for transmitting drive from said ratchet to the drive sprocket of said endless conveyor, an indexing lever operatively interconnecting said cam follower and said ratchet pawl whereby drive is transmitted from said main drive shaft to said endless conveyor and the rotary motion of said main drive shaft is translated by said cam and ratchet into intermittent rotary motion to cause strips engaged by said endless conveyor to be advanced along said line of travel in predetermined increments, a bell crank mounted on said assembly, said bell crank having a pivot axis disposed substantially parallel to the axis of said main drive shaft, and an input arm and an output arm, a motion transmitting link operatively interconnecting said floating bracket and the input arm of said bell crank, a compensator lever pivotally connected at a first point to the input arm of said bell crank and pivotally connected at a second point to the pivotal connection between said cam follower and said indexing lever whereby upon vertical displacement of said floating bracket, said motion transmitting link will be displaced to pivot said bell crank about its axis and correspondingly the pivot axis of said compensator link will be displaced angularly relative to the axis of said bell crank thereby varying the angle defined by a line intersecting the axis of the pivotal connection between said cam follower and said indexing lever and tangent to the arcuate line of travel of said pivot axis, and a line passing through the dead center point and tangent to the arcuate line of travel of the axis of the pivotal connection between said index lever and said ratchet pawl, thereby varying the indexing increment of said endless conveyor in response to the vertical displacement of said floating bracket, and means cooperative with said indexing conveyor for severing the leading end of said strips being indexed predetermined increments.
 2. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said bell crank consists of two coaxially aligned components, one component having said input arm and the other thereof having said output arm, and including means operatively interconnecting said components for angularly displacing said components relative to the common pivot axis thereof.
 3. A machine according to claim 1 wherein said means for transmitting drive from said ratchet to said drive sprocket includes a universal coupling.
 4. A machine according to claim 1 wherein said strip engaging means mounted on said endless conveyor comprise cleat attachments having outwardly projecting elements for impaling said strips.
 5. A machine according to claim 1 including means for guiding containers successively past a feed station for receiving portions of said strips severed by said severing means.
 6. A machine according to claim 5 including means operatively connected to said container guiding means for regulating the operation of said container guiding means, in response to the rate of movement of said containers past said feeding station.
 7. A machine according to claim 1 including means fOr guiding severed portions of said strips into containers positioned successively at a feed station disposed adjacent said severing means.
 8. A machine according to claim 1 including means for positively ejecting severed portions of said strips.
 9. A machine according to claim 1 wherein said strip feeding means comprises a second endless conveyor having a flight disposed along said predetermined line of travel.
 10. A machine according to claim 1 wherein said means cooperative with said indexing conveyor for severing the leading end of said strips includes a rotary cutting blade having an eccentrically disposed cutting edge.
 11. A machine according to claim 1 wherein said means cooperative with said endless conveyor for severing the leading end of said strips comprises a rotatable circular cutting blade which is orbited about an axis to provide an incisive cutting action.
 12. A machine according to claim 5 wherein said means for guiding containers successively past a feed station includes a rotatable star wheel having recesses disposed about the periphery thereof for receiving and guiding containers past said feed station.
 13. A machine according to claim 1 wherein said feeding means comprises a second endless conveyor having a flight disposed along said predetermined line of travel, and said severing means includes a rotary cutting blade.
 14. A machine according to claim 5 wherein said feeding means comprises a second endless conveyor having a flight disposed along said predetermined line of travel, said severing means includes a rotary cutting blade, and said container guide means includes a star wheel having recesses disposed about the periphery thereof for receiving and guiding containers successively past said feed station. 